Turning down the "hackers" at my club

[chatt_town]

No sir, You need to reread. I think we are all hackers to some degree. Me, you and the players you don't want to hit with. I told you that I will hack in a minute if I see the other player turn their nose up or don't like it. I'll drop you 30 times in a set if it helps me win. I'm about winning dude. I told you in a earlier post...I don't care how it looks. I will bang balls with the 4.5's if I can move better, but I'll hack it in a new York minute if it gets the job done. No shame in my game... Only a fool would hit the ball that the other guy likes.

I remember a while back watching some ladies play 3.0 state. Well this one lady clearly had 4.0 ground strokes. Big forehand. She only played 4.0 on the chitlin circuit(Black circuit for you ebonically challenged). Well the girl gets her @$$ torn out 8-0 in a pro set(changed format because of rain). She comes over telling me how the other lady thanked her for "hitting the ball". I told her but you lost 8-0 and you're more proud that the woman appreciated you "hitting the ball" as opposed to hacking it like the other 3.0 women. She never understood what I was trying to tell her which was that was nothing to be proud of if you got your @$$ ripped out of the frame. That would be kind of like Barry Bonds thanking a pitcher for throwing nothing but 95mph fast balls after he has hit 3 into mccovey cove.lol Tennis people some time...I wonder about their thought process.

I think it's pretty safe to say, if you consider the opponent a "hacker", you think you are at least a level better player than him.
As such, any strategy is a winning strategy.

 

[LeeD]

I know I"m dropping in tennis skills.
Hopefully, by the time I drop some, most of the other guys got a bit older also.
Some will get better, of course. That is life.
If I showed up today, and they were there, they would beat me pretty easily. I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday, can't reach my foot.
I've played with those 3.5's for over 14 months now, and they still celebrate with woops and smiles when I miss a shot.

 

[chatt_town]

Probably because you treated them like ***** the years when you were heads and shoulders above them. Just something for you to think about while you're sliding down the usta scale. Probably not too late to start treating them like humans. After all you all are going to be in the same boat at some point.

I know I"m dropping in tennis skills.
Hopefully, by the time I drop some, most of the other guys got a bit older also.
Some will get better, of course. That is life.
If I showed up today, and they were there, they would beat me pretty easily. I pulled a muscle in my back yesterday, can't reach my foot.
I've played with those 3.5's for over 14 months now, and they still celebrate with woops and smiles when I miss a shot.

 

[LeeD]

I"m still heads and shoulders better than them, which is why, one of their incentives for me to play with them is to open new balls.
I don't bite, I usually open new balls anyways.
I've played and beaten most of those guys for 14 months. They WANT to play with me, always wanting to be teamed with me. I usually pick the worse guy as my teammate, but we often draw cards for teams, so I have no choice.
Anyways, the gap is huge, and playing against guys who can only lob back when I serve or hit groundies, volley or even ROS, is a waste of my time.

 

[Tennisguy3000]

LeeD you seem like you can barely move on this video... and this is just serving (not trying to be mean here, hope you are healthy & ok). http://vimeo.com/21713707

 

[Tennisguy3000]

LeeD, If this is 5.0 then I just gained two points: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzns7p_EsMo

 

[LeeD]

I gotta watch that whole vid, just saw the intro.
No, that guy is too good looking to be me.
I haven't used a Wilson racket since PS-85 days.
His hair is kinda short.
Goatee is a nice touch.
I'm more a baseball cap kind of guy.
Gonna watch the whole vid now, but I think he's been posted on here before.

 

[LeeD]

Funny vid.
Those girls are 3.5 women, maybe 4.0 at best.
I guess the 3.5 hackers at SanPabloPark are much worse than you guys can imagine.
The lefty serving IS me.
Shows the need for movement in tennis.
Shows also hitting can offset lack of movement.

 

[bluegrasser]

LeeD you seem like you can barely move on this video... and this is just serving (not trying to be mean here, hope you are healthy & ok). http://vimeo.com/21713707

Is this the guy that's head & shoulders better than every one else.

 

[LeeD]

YES!
Remember, the old farts there are 3.5's. I can beat more than 2/3's of them using my RIGHT hand.
Alex is a USTA League 4.0 player.

 

[Captain Ron]

I just wear a tee shirt that says "No hackers - (I'm a self rate 4.0)" works great, or it would if I wasn't really a 3.5 hacker myself.

 

[LeeD]

Ever play a doubles set where the opponent's just lob the serve back every single time? Sure, we win 75% of the points, but that is boring tennis.
Ever play a doubles set where the opponent's lob back EVERY groundstroke you hit? Including ROS and approach volleys? EVERY.
That is the only reply I get from most of the MWF morning crowd.

 

[chatt_town]

Then those days would be overhead days. lol You can't tell me you don't need overhead practice.lol

Ever play a doubles set where the opponent's just lob the serve back every single time? Sure, we win 75% of the points, but that is boring tennis.
Ever play a doubles set where the opponent's lob back EVERY groundstroke you hit? Including ROS and approach volleys? EVERY.
That is the only reply I get from most of the MWF morning crowd.

 

[LeeD]

I feel sorry for you.
You seem to feel DESPERATE to play any kind of tennis.
For me, tennis is hit and giggles, and I can pass on it anytime, since I have windsurfing almost every afternoon.
Even the guys 25 years younger than me cannot play tennis in the morning, and expect to windsurf for 2 hours using energy and concentration. I should be picking one or the other, not both on any given day.

 

[chatt_town]

No...we just think different. I feel sorry for you. Wind surfing? Just hope to keep seeing you here posting about how you are too good to be out messing with 3.5's. I'd hate for someone else to have posted your raquets & ***** on here for sale because you were on the lunch menu of the sharks. sounds fun though as long as I watch it from the computer or the beach. post some vids of that when you get a chance.

I feel sorry for you.
You seem to feel DESPERATE to play any kind of tennis.
For me, tennis is hit and giggles, and I can pass on it anytime, since I have windsurfing almost every afternoon.
Even the guys 25 years younger than me cannot play tennis in the morning, and expect to windsurf for 2 hours using energy and concentration. I should be picking one or the other, not both on any given day.

 

[LeeD]

Actually, it's pretty scary practicing my overheads against most 3.5. They can't defend themselves, and often get hit pretty hard, mainly because they don't know better than to move back or concede when they or their partner's lob short and low.
Of course, I bounce them to the FEET of my opponents, not wanting to hurt any of my friends.
You're a real man if you worry about sharks, don't ride motorcycles because it's dangerous, pass on extreme skiing and snowboarding because you might fall and get hurt, and avoid the jump ramp in waterskiing because your arms might get ripped out or you might hit the side of the ramp at speed.
Don't you worry about slipping on the tennis court? What about those dangerous net posts. AND, the fencing around the tennis court must mean that tennis is a DANGEROUS game.

 

[chatt_town]

You make some valid points. I guess the only thing I can say to that is this. You being 800 something years old or whatever you are have lived a pretty good life it seems...So if a great white decided to take a bite out of your *** at this point...hell...family may not even notice you're gone. Me on the other hand...I have a daughter in her first year of college and a son that is a Junior in high school. I think I have a better chance of surviving running into a net pole then f'kin round on the sharks dinner table. Trust me. I don't do any of that stuff you mentioned especially anything having to do with the water. lol Too much can go wrong. I need to be where if all else fails I can get up and start running. lol

As far as your buddies not knowing how to defend themselves, hell at one time they didn't know how to go to the bathroom. It's a tennis ball...so what if they get hit in the toes(as you say you hit the feet). The next time they'll get back. I stay even with my partner so that's not a problem...lol I see the short lob go up as soon as he hits it. Plenty of time to get back and dig out the overheads. How do I know? I was nailed twice by the same person on the same court two straight years in the head with overheads.lol So you live and you learn.

Actually, it's pretty scary practicing my overheads against most 3.5. They can't defend themselves, and often get hit pretty hard, mainly because they don't know better than to move back or concede when they or their partner's lob short and low.
Of course, I bounce them to the FEET of my opponents, not wanting to hurt any of my friends.
You're a real man if you worry about sharks, don't ride motorcycles because it's dangerous, pass on extreme skiing and snowboarding because you might fall and get hurt, and avoid the jump ramp in waterskiing because your arms might get ripped out or you might hit the side of the ramp at speed.
Don't you worry about slipping on the tennis court? What about those dangerous net posts. AND, the fencing around the tennis court must mean that tennis is a DANGEROUS game.

 

[Steady Eddy]

Ever play a doubles set where the opponent's just lob the serve back every single time? Sure, we win 75% of the points, but that is boring tennis.
Ever play a doubles set where the opponent's lob back EVERY groundstroke you hit? Including ROS and approach volleys? EVERY.
That is the only reply I get from most of the MWF morning crowd.

For an entire set? I'd think that even after, say, 10 points like that, they'd notice it's not working and try something else.

I used to have no overhead, and I got lobbed to death. Now that I've learned to smash they don't lob me anymore.

 

[Gut4Tennis]

tell them you will play them in a match, and after the time is up whoever won the most games pays for the court time. This way you get free court time, and they get to hit with you, but you must do a 10 min warm up then play sets.

 

[West Coast Ace]

Did anyone say 'buy a ball machine' yet? If a player at your level shows up, just turn it off and have at it. Otherwise, have a good practice on some part(s) of your game that needs improving. If the hackers still ask (and there are plenty of slow learners) just say 'this machine always has one more shot than I can handle'.

 

[SoCal1]

Club hackers can be just the worst breed of tennis player you could ever have the misfortune to play. There just seem to be higher proportion of idiots or prima donnas at this level (typically 3.5 - 4.0) than any other, and without being ageist, they typically seem to be guys in the 50 y/o+ category.

I was asked to help organize one the adult social sessions at my local club this evening. Basically, it just involves organising the group of social players so that its a bit of 'round robin' mix-in doubles. Got everyone's name and threw a load of people together initially, with subsequent rounds picking it so that matches weren't too unbalanced.

During the session:

- one guy threw his racquet across the court when he double faulted
- a lot of them typically did ridiculous OTT 'high fives' and sported obnoxious grins when they won any sort of point even off their opponent's UEs.
- one guy started criticizing his partner and started telling him how he should play even though his own tennis was pretty awful
- one guy strutted around thinking he was God's gift to tennis and kept on going about how he was in the 3.5 play offs.

The attitude of these people to tennis was appalling! They didn't seem to be interested in developing as players at all but hack a win at any cost.

 

[RobFL]

Hey LeeD, i don't check in here much lately due to work and playing a lot of tournaments. I miss playing at San Pablo, my daughter got transferred from Oakland so i haven't been out there lately. I think you wanted me to vouch for you, i will. I believe LeeD was a strong 4.5 tournament tough player in his prime, maybe better than that. Still a strong 4.0 dubs player. Big lefty serve, it was probably murderous a few years back. In some parts of the country he might still be rated 4.5 in dubs. NorCal, Florida and Texas have tough (realistic) ntrp ratings imo.

 

[mikeler]

Hey LeeD, i don't check in here much lately due to work and playing a lot of tournaments. I miss playing at San Pablo, my daughter got transferred from Oakland so i haven't been out there lately. I think you wanted me to vouch for you, i will. I believe LeeD was a strong 4.5 tournament tough player in his prime, maybe better than that. Still a strong 4.0 dubs player. Big lefty serve, it was probably murderous a few years back. In some parts of the country he might still be rated 4.5 in dubs. NorCal, Florida and Texas have tough (realistic) ntrp ratings imo.

Now who can vouch for RobFL?

 

[RobFL]

Hey Mikeler, i live around Destin, i'll look you up for a hit if i'm in orlando
The Category 2's i play are in Sarasota and Naples so i don't get thru orlando regularly.

 

[LeeD]

Good to hear from you, RobFL....
Hope everything is going fine with your life, it was a pleasure hitting some dubs with you.
Anytime you're around, hit me up for some tennis. The travel section here is the best way to contact any of us.